The Brilliant Borders

21/05/2021

We made a new video as a wee reminder of why the Scottish Borders is where the best of Scotland begins.

11/04/2021

As Scotland moves towards reopening, here’s a quick guide to some of the best family-friendly places in the Scottish Borders.

Family friendly days out in the Scottish Borders

18/06/2019

The ten best road cycling routes at the heart of the Scottish Borders.

Discover the best road cycling routes at the heart of the Scottish Borders with the free Cycling Selkirk guide, published by The Five Turrets. From leisurely fa

22/05/2019

Promoting the best of the Scottish Borders in the beautiful southern uplands of Scotland.
Lochs, mountains, hills and rivers - they’re all here, just an hour south of Edinburgh by train, bus or car and a couple of hours north from Newcastle.
The Highlands are lovely, but the real Scotland begins at the border in a wild landscape home to golden eagles, ospreys, red squirrel and pine martens.
It’s a land rich in history, the place where William Wallace held out against the English, where the notorious Border Reivers held sway for centuries and home to such luminaries as Sir Walter Scott and the explorer Mungo Park.
The Brilliant Borders is part of The Five Turrets, the stylish self-catering holiday home in Selkirk, at the heart of the Scottish Borders.
Details of all our recommendations for the best places to visit are on our website along with a link to book a stay for up to eight people in a mini-castle named by The Sunday Times as one of the 25 best self catering properties in the UK for 2019.

Explore the Scottish Borders. The best experiences, the best place to stay, the best places to go. Interactive Google map.

11/03/2019

Enjoyed Braveheart? Watched Outlaw King on Netflix? Now stand on the spot where William Wallace was made Guardian of Scotland in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders.
Small town, big story.

17/06/2018

Would you like to work with us to promote your business to tourists visiting the Scottish Borders?
There’s no charge, no contracts: we’re just looking for interesting businesses that we can work with to give our guests something more than the standard fare.
We’re part of The Five Turrets - the stylish new self-catering holiday property in the heart of the Borders and looking for businesses that appreciate the benefits of cooperation. We’ll promote you on the website if we are a good match and all we ask is that it would be nice if you reciprocate.
We’re putting together a few sample itineraries and want to send our guests to the interesting places.
It’s a great region and criminally overlooked as a destination. We’d really like to be part of changing that.
So...
Food? If that’s your thing, let us know. We’ll put together a gourmet tour for discerning guests who can buy locally and enjoy cooking your stuff in our top notch kitchen.
Drink? They need something to go with the food.
Activities? We know you are out there but we want to be able to provide a week’s worth of entertainment. Tell us what you can offer and we will link to your booking pages.
Arts and craft? This is our thing. We do photography and weaving. Selkirk, our base, has a vibrant arts community. We’ll be working with artists who want to display their work alongside ours on our walls but we want to be able to send guests to you too. Or to get you in to our space to work with guests.
Wildlife? We’d really like to hear from guides who can offer guests tours of the local area. Same for history: we want to be able to offer more than just a list of abbeys and castles. Talk to us: we’d like to be able to offer bespoke tours with you.
Children. There’s a lot going on, but if you’ve got something a bit different, tell us about it.
Cycling, walking, golf, fishing. If want to promote it, we’ll work with you.
And that’s enough for now. You can contact us by email at [email protected]
Call on 01750 21349.

15/06/2018

“Er, are you one of those Scottish Wildcats?”
“Aye.”
“Forgive me, but you don’t look that wild to me.”
“Listen pal, I’ve just heard that there’s only about 200 of us left. Beneath this cute ‘kitten playing with its tail act’, I’m pure raging...”

14/06/2018

Thanks for all the likes and interest in The Five Turrets.
Here’s a little reminder of what’s on offer in the Borders. Please note that hardly any children were eaten in the making of this post...

“Don’t worry, my boy. They only eat 11 year old boys.”
“Oh, ok. Hey, hold on, I’m 11...”

The Kielder Water Bird of Prey centre. Just an hour away.

13/06/2018

It’s Common Riding time again, when Selkirk celebrates the most pyrrhic of victories over the English.
In 1513 the men of the town went into battle for Scotland at Flodden. History records that it didn’t go well: only one man is said to have returned.
But the story goes that he was clutching a captured English flag. And so it is regarded as a score draw.
The celebrations kick off tomorrow.
It’s great fun and deadly serious too.

11/06/2018

And that’s us transformed into The Five Turrets.
We’re starting to fit out the upstairs rooms next week, while the painters do their stuff on the big living space.
With exquisite timing, it looks like it will be finished by the end of July, just in time to completely miss the holiday season. Sigh.
But never mind. We’re going to be open all year and there’s a lovely log-burning stove now for those winter nights.
We’ve added secure bike storage for eight bikes so that riders can make the most of the world class mountain biking on the doorstep.
Can’t wait to show you the inside, but for now, this is a little glimpse of what we hope is going to be something you’ll love.

07/06/2018

We’re going to be rebranding as The Five Turrets from next week.
Because that’s the new name of our rather lovely old holiday letting place in Selkirk. And because it has, well, five turrets.
So the name will change in your feed, but it’s still us. And the Brilliant Borders will live on in a new feed as our tourism spin-off promoting the best of the Scottish Borders.